What day is it? What time is it? Have I eaten today?

We're a little confused here in NJ. After sleeping 12 hours a night religiously since I picked him up, Adam is a little off kilter here. He stayed up until midnight, woke up again at 4 a.m., then went done at 7 a.m. and slept until 5:30 p.m. Its just 11 p.m. now and he went down again about half an hour ago -- not sure if its a nap or for the night.




Ok, so where were we? The cow suitcase helped me find Cindy, Tam's mom. Sunday morning, I got in the elevator to check out and head to the province, the doors opened on another floor, and the person standing there cried out "I'd know that suitcase anywhere!" LOL!




We headed to the lobby and she went off to Can Tho with Ellen and Brien and Jean anne and Chuck and I climbed onto my bus with two lovely families - Karen and Martin from London, who were adopting a two and a half year old girl, and Carl and Kim and their three children, Kaitlynn, Andrew and Rebecca who were adopting an almost 3 year old boy. The three children were so much fun to have along. They had given up their birthday gifts this year -- asking their friends to bring donations for the orphanage instead.




The drive to Vinh Long seemed endless - 3 and a half hours. After waiting so long that last stretch was tough. I thought I would lose my mind when they announced we were stopping for lunch! The restaurant was right on the Mekong Delta and the scenery was lovely, as were the geckos on the ceiling. The food was good, and the bill was amazing -- 8 people, $15!


We finally made it to the orphanage and were surrounded by the most beautiful, loving, curious children I've ever met. The two other families spotted their children immediately, but Adam was no where to be seen. Finally one of the nannies, came down the stairs, handed him to me and walked away. Those of you who have already had children this age can imagine his reaction -- he screamed his bloody brains out. And continued screaming for pretty much the entire visit. So much so that they removed us and put is in a separate room. I made a dandy first impression.




After a while, when it became clear he was not about to warm up to me that day, I went back to the main area with the other children. The nannies kept snatching him away from me and vanishing. I don't know if they were afraid I wouldn't take him because he was crying, or if they just wanted more time alone with him. I backed off and played with the other children and wanted to take every single one of them home with me.


We headed to the Golf Hotel in Can Tho for the evening and I had a lovely dinner with Chuck and Cindy and Jean anne and Chuck. Our G&R was scheduled for 9 a.m. At 9 a.m., we got the word it had been postponed until 10:30. Next notice had it at 1:30 so we went to lunch. Note to those of you yet to travel and may end up at the same restaurant, which we called the "Rice and..." Restaurant. The menu was basically pork and rice, shrimp and rice, etc. I ordered the chicken and rice. I guess I should have specified "No feet please". (I'm having trouble uploading pics, but will show you the appetizing selection in a future post)


The last postponement had the G&R set at 3. Adam screamed so loud and long he was removed from the ceremony! I was convinced the officials were going to say "No baby for you!". Much to my surprise they didn't. You'll be surprised to hear Adam screamed the ENTIRE ride back to Ho Chi Minh City. Note I say screamed -- not cried. This was the no tears absolutely enraged scream. There is a sincere cry, complete with tears. And then there's the "I want that NOW!" growl, which sounds a little like a demon baby. Definitely a strong personality!




Scroll down and refresh your memory of the picture of the social worker in Vinh Long holding a screaming Adam. Remember how I said that was my new favorite picture? Well, good thing -- as that's pretty much what Adam looked like for the next three days! Boy, did this baby hate me! Everytime he would doze off and wake again, he'd look like he was thinking "Oh damn! It wasn't a dream! She's still here!"